Commercial wheels, such as abrasive cut-off wheels, generally are formed to present a large diameter - to - thickness ratio. In this manner it is found that kerf loss and power requirements may be kept to a minimum. A construction of this form, however, requires stabilization to prevent buckling and breakage of the wheel when subjected to heavy feed forces. Further, stabilization is required thereby to eliminate substantially axial flutter of the peripheral wheel region when under conditions of high wheel speeds. Flutter may result in breakage of the wheel when it is brought into contact with a workpiece or vice versa.
Breakage of the wheel under these conditions may result in damage to equipment. Further, breakage of the wheel may result in injury to the operator. Both situations should be avoided.
To overcome this type of problem in connection with abrasive cut-off wheels, prior art equipment has utilized a pair of flanges, one on each side of the wheel, to provide side support for the wheel. A construction of this type suffers from the fact that if maximum usage of the wheel diameter is to be realized the flanges generally are restricted to about one-quarter of the diameter of the wheel. Such restriction results in the use of flanges, which, under most operating conditions, are not large enough to prevent axial flutter of the wheel.